This invention relates to the field of athletic equipment. More particularly, an athletic short is provided which has removable, contoured pads to protect vital areas of the hips, thighs and tailbone.
In the field of athletic equipment, special clothing and padding is often utilized. For example, football players normally wear pads around their shoulders, hips and thighs in order to prevent serious injury upon falling. Other sports such as baseball, basketball and tennis also include padded apparel, which oftentimes provide various types of padding for the hips, thighs, tailbones, buttocks and other areas of the body.
One type of sports pants with pocketed pads is found in the 1994 patent issued to Lubahn. In this U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,610, a garment is provided to wear while playing sports. The garment has protective pads usually formed of foam, which are permanently affixed to pockets located strategically about the garment. Lubahn illustrates the use of pads to protect the thighs and portions of the hip (see FIGS. 1 and 5 of Lubahn). One drawback to having permanently affixed pads is that they are not removable for washing or replacement. It is an object of this invention to provide a padded sports garment which has removable and washable pads, which may be easily and readily reinserted into the garment once the pads have been cleaned.
Another type of padded skating shorts is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,737 issued to Valice in 1996. The Valice invention embodies a padded core shell including pads for the ball joint, thigh, hip, tailbone, kidney and buttocks. These pads may be curved to somewhat simulate the actual contours of the body. As in the Lubahn patent, the Valice pads are sewn into the structure and are thus not removable. While Valice does approach the problem of conforming the pads to the contour of the athlete""s body, a more comprehensive solution would improve upon the prior art. It is a further object of this invention to provide a removable and contoured pad capable of providing both safety and comfort to the wearer.
Other types of pads for various parts of the hips and legs are known in the art. However, it is an object of this invention to provide a new type of athletic short with removable and contoured pads such that the pads contact the body in the least amount of area and thus contour themselves to the athlete. Since the instant pads are removable and washable as well, a further object is to provide a padded athletic short with features that have heretofore been unknown in the art.
A padded athletic short is provided having pockets around the thigh, hip, and talbone area of the body. The athletic shorts are made of an elastic material such as the trademarked material Spandex(trademark) or Lycra(trademark). Contoured and serrated pads are inserted into the respective pad pockets and removably secured in place by a pocket flap. The contoured pad tends to adapt its shape to the surface of the part to be protected (thigh, hip or talbone). The pads may be removed for washing and cleaning and may then be reinserted into the pocket using the flap closure.